An Oamaru man has been jailed for what Judge Joanna Maze described in the Oamaru District Court as a day-long "spree of offending", which included trying to rob a Chinese tourist in central Oamaru.
Marko Motu Williams (21) was jailed for a total of 16 months after appearing for sentence on charges of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence, stealing alcohol from an Oamaru liquor store, attempting to rob Xin Lin Mao Ng and stealing a camera from the Oamaru police station, all on June 21 and 22.
On the most serious charge, attempted robbery, he was jailed for 16 months and refused leave to apply to substitute it for another sentence. On each of the other charges, he was jailed for one month, all terms to be concurrent.
He will be subject to post-release conditions for nine months.
Williams was also warned by Judge Maze he was now subject to the three-strike rule, if convicted of any further charges of violence.
On June 21, Williams went to an Oamaru service station, where he swung an eftpos machine at a sales assistant who refused to serve him after he argued with staff over removing a scarf over his face.
The following day, at 7.55pm, he took two boxes of pre-mix drinks, worth $19, from Liquorland.
About 30 minutes later, he got out of a car in which he was a passenger and approached a group of Chinese tourists asking for money. When he became increasingly aggressive, the tourists ran away and Williams chased them, catching up with one and attempting to pull a belt bag from his waist.
The tourist ran into a restaurant for help and Williams got into the car and left.
After being arrested about 11pm, and while being processed at the police station, he pulled a camera from a stand and hid it in his underpants.
The camera was discovered, but was damaged and unusable.
Williams had admitted the charges on August 28 and been remanded until yesterday for a pre-sentence report and sentencing.
Police sought reparation for the camera and stolen liquor, but Judge Maze declined the application.
